Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-28
DAILY HERALD.
LEGAL POLYGAMY.
How a Man May HaveThree
Wives in New York.
THE STORY OF TWO SISTERS.
They Did Not Object to the
Arrangement il the Law
Didn't.
ttNew York World.


Not long ago the W0rt6 published
the following letter from lady in this
city:
NV husband has three lawful wives
now living, and am the third. His
first wife absented herself for five
wears, and he married second. From
the second he obtained divorce,
valid in the state of Illinois, where he
married me in 1884. His wife, upon
our arrival in New York, demanded
support, and as she was his legal wife,
he had to give it. He has always
supported his second wife, who is, OF
course, his lawful wife. the divorce
not being legal here. My marriage is
perfectly legal, and my rights as a
lawful wife are unquestioned, as our
marriage was legal where it took
place. Now the question asises, if my
husband should die, would each of us
be entitled to our third? There is one
child by the second wife, born re-
Gently, and the question has been
raised in regard to our husband max
ing = will, which he declines to do.
Ii he dies intestate, does each one OF
his widows get third, and will the
child get nothing?
Believing there was story behind
it that would interest the public, the
writer was asked to give the details
whereby she became the third living
and lawful wife of her husband.
"My father" she said, "was cler-
gyman, and a professor of Greek in a
small Western college. He died when
was seventeen and my sister Mary
nineteen, leaving us penniless and
without means where we were of earn
ing hearty living-and We were
growing girls, with appetites. My
mother was an invalid-a cripple
and we starved genteelly for about
four months, when my aunt (my
mothers brothers wife) invited us to
come to New York and make our
home with her. She was wealthy, a
widow, and for a year all went well
with us. Mary obtained work as
shorthand writer and amanuensis, but
it was very much against my aunt's
will.
Zone Sunday my aunt quietly an
nounced that she would sail for Eu-
rope on Wednesday, and that she had
rented the house and furniture ON a
three-years' lease. We took the hint,
hired two partially-furnished rooms,
and moved into them.
"That Saturday night We counted
our cash to know our pence, and found
we had exactly 1856. | will not
weary you with the history of the next
four months. | obtained eight situa-
tions and worked eight weeks, but re-
ceived in all only so. In five cases |
worked for men who make habit of
hiring girls by the week. 'faulting'
their work on Saturday, and refusing
to pay for that week. In two others |
was told point blank that | was ex-
pected to give more than faithful SER
vice, and in the only decent situation
with an honest employer we were
burned out after l had been there four
days. l paid 81 of the 80 to intelligence
Office keepers, but l could not get a
situation as general houseworker,
chambermaid or waitress. l was too
pretty or above the business the
ladies said.
"We starved here in New York
very un enteelly. Everything we
had, even to our underclothing, went
to the pawnbroker's to get simply
bread for the mother. One day Mary
got situation, and the next | was
down with fever brought on by hun
ger and misery. Her employer must
have suspected something of the trag-
edy we were concealing or trying to
conceal, for two or three afternoons
after he called at our rooms, and when
she came home she found nurse
there, doctor just leaving, our lardei
stocked and my mother crying with
joy, and $40 in her pocket. l was
too i'll to be moved, but when we
could he insisted upon our removing
to one of his flats up town, which he
had furnished for us. He was good.
nesss Itself.
THE WICKED WORLD.
"But the world is not good. Because
he paid Mary the same salary he had
previously paid man for the same
work performed unsatisfactory be-
cause he helped me, when recovered
to fair situation, and because he
called once or twice a week on our
mother, the vilest reports were circu-
lated concerning him and us. They
did not come to our ears, but they did
to his. One evening he called and
asked Mary to marry him. He told
her frankly that he had been married
ten years before that he and his wife
had quarreled after three years of
married life, and that she had left
him. She had had a large fortune,
while his at that time had been small.
She had gone to Europe to live, and
for six years he had not known whether
she was living or dead. Under the
New York law of 1873 he was per-
fectly free to marry again but, if she
had any doubts, she should be thor
oughly satisfied and the doubts should
be removed. He said that he knew
she had no love for him, such as a
husband craved, but that he would
not ask for. He begged her to take
time, and to consider his offer thought
fully. He did not give the slightest
intimation of the reports that had been
circulated.
''She knew the offer came from a
undetermined, honest and loyal gen.
tleman-one worthy the best woman
that ever lived, and one whom she
would probably never meet the equal
of sgain. After weeks considera-
fion she consented.
"Our mother did not consent. She
did not oppose the marriage actively,
but she objected to it quietly. Her
point was that the first wife might be
living, and if she returned would also
be a legal wife She objected to man
having two wives. Neither Mary nor
sympathized with or could under
stand this feeling My father, as a
Christian clergyman, had held strong
and unassailable grounds, which he